Michigan legislature mulling 4 cent tax increase on gas

The Michigan House of Representatives is considering three bills that propose to fix state roads by boosting taxes on gas.

As early as March 1, drivers could see a 4 cent increase per gallon to help the state fill a $100 million deficit in Michigan’s match of federal dollars for road improvements.

The additional 4 cent tax would increase Michigan's per gallon gas tax to 23 cents in 2010 and an additional 4 cents is being considered for 2013. Diesel users would see an increase of 6 cents in 2010 and another 6 cents in 2013, pushing the state leaded gas tax to 27 cents per gallon.

Revenues from the new tax are estimated at $480 million when the full fee would be in place.

"It's welcome. We've been asking for this for six years," said Emmet County Road Commission engineer-manager Brian Gutowski.

Gutowski said the tax would mean about a $300,000 boost for the Emmet County Road Commission.

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In 2004, the Emmet County Road Commission budgeted to receive about $3.7 million from the Michigan Transportation Fund. The road commission is planning for about $3.3 million in state funds for 2010.

"We've basically cut out all preventative maintenance for our primary roads the last two years," Gutowski said. "The overall rating for our primary road system (in Emmet County) is below fair. The average road rating out of 10 is about 4.9, which is not very good."

Gutowski said the county would likely use the money to purchase a large amount of asphalt to replace worn road shoulders on the primary roads in the county. Replacing some aging fleet of vehicles would also be a possibility, he said.

Despite local optimism, the bills are likely to meet strong Republican opposition in the House and Senate.

"These bills have been ready and held by the Democrats for almost a year, and they have been working all that time to find Republican sponsors," Elsenheimer said. "I'll tell you today, there just simply aren't the votes in my caucus to approve a tax increase."

Michigan Rep. Dick Ball, R-Bennington Township, sponsored two of the bills, while Rep. Matt Lori, R-Constantine, has also voiced his support.

"It's an awfully difficult time to be asking taxpayers to be paying more to the state government," Elsenheimer said. "Even though our roads are in tough shape — and our local road commissions do need resources — this just seems to me to be a poor time for more dollars out of people's paychecks."

Elsenheimer said he would rather see reforms in the Michigan Department of Corrections for cost-saving measures, before the state looks to taxation for money.

On Thursday, the Michigan Department of Transportation voted to hold more than 200 road and bridge projects slated for the next five years. The Associated Press cited suspension could drop the budget for roads from $1.4 billion in 2009 to about $600 million for 2010.